On the same day Lionel Messi was sent home in Argentina’s loss, the other “GOAT” at this tournament was also eliminated. It was two weeks ago that Ronaldo scored a hat trick in the same stadium against Spain, stroking his chin after the first goal to imply he was the “greatest of all time.”

There was no goal from Ronaldo this time. Everywhere he went, the Portugal great was hounded by two or three Uruguayan defenders.

It was Cavani who instead took the spotlight. He combined with Luis Suarez to compete a series of precision passes to give Uruguay the early advantage with a header in the seventh minute. And after Portugal equalized on Pepe’s header in the 55th minute, it was Cavani again finishing a perfect Uruguay counter in the 62nd with a shot from just inside the penalty area that caught Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio slightly out of position and curled inside the far post.

Cavani now has three goals at the World Cup, but limped off in the 70th minute with an apparent injury and had to be replaced. He was helped to the sideline with his arm around Ronaldo’s back.

Uruguay, a two-time champion that reached the semifinals at the 2010 World Cup, will next face France on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod.

Portugal had chances in the second half, including a frantic final few minutes of stoppage time with claims of a possible handball in the penalty area from a late corner kick. But there was no late video review to benefit Portugal as Ronaldo’s fourth World Cup came to an uneventful end.

Like Messi, Ronaldo has never scored in a knockout round match at the World Cup.

“I said no team can win alone. I never said Cristiano wants to play alone,” Portugal coach Fernando Santos said. “The team didn’t win because Uruguay scored twice. Usually we also score.”

Ronaldo had one clean shot the entire 90 minutes and it came in the opening moments of the match, directly into the arms of Uruguay goalkeeper Fernando Muslera. His shadows were Uruguay defenders Diego Godin and Jose Maria Gimenez, who know Ronaldo quite well from their clashes between Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid in the Spanish league.

Ronaldo was involved somewhat in Portugal’s goal, even if he didn’t come close to getting a touch on the cross. Ronaldo ran in front of Pepe and drew the attention of both Gimenez and Godin. Pepe came in behind and Uruguay finally surrendered its first goal of the tournament in the 55th minute.

The quick-footed French teenager scored two goals in a five-minute span of the second half to help his team rally for a 4-3 victory over Argentina. Saturday’s victory gave France a spot in the World Cup quarterfinals.

Messi, who turned 31 during his fourth and possibly final World Cup, set up a pair of goals but again failed to score in a knockout match at the biggest event in soccer.

Mbappe got his two in his first attempt.

“Of course, as I’ve already and always said, in the World Cup you have all the top level players so it is an opportunity to show what you can do and what your abilities are,” said Mbappe, who now has three goals in Russia. “There is no better place than a World Cup.”

Mbappe was a constant threat to Argentina’s creaking defense with his speed and skill and was at the heart of France’s often-breathtaking display, particularly in the middle of the second half.

He became the second teenager to score multiple goals in a knockout match at the World Cup. Pele was the other, doing it twice at 17 at the 1958 tournament in Sweden.

“It is flattering to be the second one after Pele but let’s put things in context. Pele is another category,” Mbappe said. “But it’s good to be among the players to score in knockout matches.”

With the score 2-2, Mbappe got his first goal with a cool finish from a tight angle in the 64th minute, his low shot going under Argentina goalkeeper Franco Armani. Four minutes later, he slotted past Armani again after he was put through on goal by a deft pass from Oliver Giroud.

Mbappe also helped France to its first goal. Following a sustained period of early pressure, he won a penalty after a 40-meter burst of speed that ended with him being brought down by Marcos Rojo. Antoine Griezmann then scored from the spot in the 13th minute, sending Armani the wrong way.

“Our team is much younger, but we are there. We answered the call,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “It was not easy because we were leading and then there was an equalizer. Then they led 2-1, but we kept fighting. There is an excellent mentality in this group and we did everything to go further. We couldn’t miss it and we did win it.”

Mbappe was born a few months after France won the 1998 World Cup at home, its only title at the tournament. Deschamps was the captain of that team and Zinedine Zidane scored two goals in the final.

“People remember more the World Cup victory than the year I was born,” Mbappe said. “It is normal (because) it was the time we were World Cup winners, so that is obviously what they remember.”

France will next face Uruguay in the quarterfinals on Friday in Nizhny Novgorod. Blaise Matuidi will miss the match after receiving a second yellow card of the tournament.

Argentina briefly took the lead in the 48th minute at Kazan Arena, but France defender Benjamin Pavard equalized nine minutes later with a superb strike from outside the area.

Argentina got its goals from Angel Di Maria, Gabriel Mercado and late substitute Sergio Aguero. Messi set up the latter two, first sending a shot on goal that Mercado deflected into the net in the 48th.

With time winding down, Messi gave Argentina a bit of hope with a cross to the left that Aguero headed into goal in stoppage time.

Di Maria’s goal was one of the best of the tournament. Following a throw-in, he hit a hard shot from 30 yards that curled into the top right corner, beyond the dive of France goalkeeper Hugo Lloris.

“We played against a team that was very, very fast in transitions,” Sampaoli said. “We were able to turn around the match but after a very short time during a very strange play, we lost our advantage.”

For Argentina, it was the first time the team has scored three goals in a competitive match and lost.

For Messi, it means he still has never won a major international title with Argentina.

Sunday:

In the second straight shootout of the tournament, the Croats advanced to the quarterfinals on Sunday with a 3-2 victory over Denmark on penalties following a 1-1 draw.

Subasic tipped the first penalty of the shootout from Denmark midfielder Christian Eriksen onto the post. He then dived to his right to save an attempt from substitute Lasse Schone. Finally, he used his feet to block Nicolai Jorgensen’s attempt.

“He was a hero tonight,” Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic said. “He saved three penalties in a shootout. You don’t see that every day.”

Subasic became only the second goalkeeper to save three penalties in a shootout at the World Cup, matching the feat of Portugal keeper Ricardo against England in 2006.

Croatia will next face host Russia in the quarterfinals on Saturday in Sochi. Russia also advanced on penalties, beating Spain 4-3 following another 1-1 draw.

Croatia had a chance to take the lead late in the game at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium, but Luka Modric’s penalty was saved by Kasper Schmeichel. The Denmark goalkeeper, who also saved a pair of penalties in the shootout, dived to his left to smother Modric’s attempt in the 116th minute.

Subasic’s three saves and Schmeichel’s two made it the most combined saves in a World Cup shootout.

Modric, however, made his penalty in the shootout and Ivan Rakitic scored the decider with a shot to the left side of the net as Schmeichel dived the wrong way.

After surviving the shootout, Subasic had to survive the celebration. Domagoj Vida lifted the keeper onto his shoulders as they celebrated the win, and then dropped him.

“He is fine,” Dalic said.

Croatia entered the match after impressing in the group stage, including a 3-0 dismantling of two-time champion Argentina at the same stadium. But Denmark, unbeaten in 18 games coming into the game, provided tough opposition.

The Danes took the lead in the first minute when defender Mathias Jorgensen scrambled in a shot that went in off Subasic’s left hand and then the left post. It was Denmark’s fastest ever World Cup goal.

Croatia equalized in the fourth minute with another untidy goal. Henrik Dalsgaard’s clearance hit a teammate and fell for Croatia forward Mario Mandzukic to hook the ball in.

The teams stayed even for the next 116 minutes, including the 30 minutes of extra time.

But it was Schmeichel, the son of former Denmark goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, who sent it to extra time with his penalty save on Modric’s attempt.

The Croats earned the penalty when Ante Rebic was set free on a counterattack and skipped past Schmeichel, only to be fouled from behind by Mathias Jorgensen — the scorer of Denmark’s goal.

Modric’s spot kick was weak, though, and Schmeichel dived to his left to smother it for the first of his three penalty saves.

In the shootout, Schmeichel saved attempts from Milan Badelj and Josip Pivaric.

“I am so sorry for Kasper and the whole team,” Denmark coach Age Hareide said. “That’s just the brutality of football.”

Russia 1, Spain 1 (Russia advances on penalty kicks, 4-3): Russia shockingly eliminated Spain from the World Cup, surviving two hours of dominance by the 2010 champions, then winning a penalty shootout.

Russia’s captain and goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev saved spot-kicks from Jorge “Koke” Resurreccion and Iago Aspas, and four of his teammates scored.

Spain dominated the ball during the game — completing more than 1,000 passes — but was too passive against a well-organized Russian defense.

Spain led in the 12th minute when captain Sergio Ramos helped force Russia’s Sergei Ignashevich into an own goal when his back was turned to the play. The 38-year-old defender diverted a crossed ball into the net with his heel.

An error in Spain’s defense let Russia level in the 41st, after Gerard Pique’s raised arm blocked a header by Artyom Dzyuba at a corner.

Dzyuba’s penalty kick fooled goalkeeper David De Gea to dive the wrong way.

Russia next plays Croatia. The quarterfinal is on Saturday evening in Sochi.